Curtis Granderson likely to return to Yankees on Friday

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerCurtis Granderson is closing in on a Friday return.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Lots to cover from pregame at Target Field tonight. There will not be a quiz:

Injuries: Alfredo Aceves (back) went to therapy today. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that the reliever he did not receive another epidural for his aching back. Jorge Posada (hairline fracture) may be close to resuming baseball activities. Girardi wants to observe how Posada is moving tomorrow. "He is feeling better," Girardi said. "We're going to come up with a course of action. I can't tell you exactly when he'll start baseball activities. But we'll sit down with him. I want to see him, I want see how he's moving around, and see what we're going to do." Curtis Granderson (groin) is expected back in the Bronx tomorrow. Playing in center field, Granderson went 0-for-2 with a walk in the first game of a doubleheader with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Lineup: Girardi said Granderson is an option to hit second in the lineup. "He brings pop he's got speed and he's a pull hitter," Girardi said. Brett Gardner has hit there but struggled. Meanwhile, Girardi said he prefers Swisher lower in the order to break up the Yankees' left-handed bats.

Utility belt: David Robertson took a line drive off his back on Wednesday but remained in the game because most of the impact was absorbed by his belt. Said Girardi: "I think we could have been in a situation where he might be out a couple days if the belt's not there."

Point: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire criticized his Yankees counterpart after Wednesday night's game, when Girardi sent starter Andy Pettitte to throw his warm-up pitches to stall for time as Mariano Rivera got ready in the bullpen. "That's a situation that Major League Baseball needs to take care of," Gardenhire told reporters. "When stuff like that happens, you don't have a guy ready in the bullpen, and your starter goes out there, he should have to face a hitter. It's just the way it should be."

Counterpoint: Girardi said on Thursday he was protecting Rivera, who was pitching for the second time in the day. He did not want to warm Rivera up until he knew he was going to be used, which did not happen until Nick Swisher homered with two outs to give the Yankees the lead. "It would be silly to get Mo up and say 'well, be ready,' and then not have to use him," Girardi said. "It doesn't make sense. It's a different story if he doesn't pitch three hours before but whatever I did was within the grounds of what I could do." Asked if the move went against baseball's push to speed up the pace of play, Girardi said: "It's two minutes. Managers throw over all the time to get a guy ready, send the catcher out what's the difference?"

Out early: The Yankees flew CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes back to New York on Thursday in advance of their starts. Hughes pitches on Friday while Sabathia pitches in a day game on Saturday.